Cricket 1887

“ Toge ther joined in cricket’s m an ly toil.”— Byron. Registlfred^foZTransm ission'^broad. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1887. P R I C E 2 d . one. M r. E . Jackson, w ho officiated ju st then as often as he could, w as m uch above th e average of am ateur w icket-keepers, bu t am ateurs are at th e best, from the requ ire­ m ents of business, unreliable. There was con ­ sequently a great open in g fo r a professional to officiate behind the sticks for Lancashire about the tim e w hen P illin g had com pleted his residential qualification. F ortunately for the cou n ty w hen the h ou r had arrived there w as also th e m an. U nless w e are m istaken P illin g ’s first appearance in the Lancashire eleven w as on A u gust 2nd, 1877, at O ld Trafford, against Sussex. There w as no lack o f good bow lin g ju st then in th e Palatinate. W illia m M cIn tyre, W atson , B arlow , M essrs. A . A p p leb y and A . G . Steel rep re­ sented a variety of h igh -class bow ling fo r a you n g w ick et-k eeper to take. T h ou gh som e of it w as perhaps n ot difficu lt to take, still the test w as a severe one, and com in g as he d id m ost satisfactorily ou t of th e ordeal th e future o f L a n ca ­ shire’s n ew “ stoom p er” w as m ade. H is rise w as singularly rapid, and the form he show ed for his cou n ty even in 1878 w as quite good enough to bring him prom in ently before the leaders o f the cricket w orld. In tw elve m atches in 1878 he stum ped seventeen and cau gh t fifteen b ats­ m en, a record, m ore especially c o n ­ sidering th at it w as practically his first regular season in C ounty cricket, of w h ich an y y ou n g cricketer m ig h t w ell be proud. T h e executive o f th e M arylebone Club has always show n a praisew orthy readiness to enlist the services of any you n g professional o f prom ise to strengthen its staff o f grou n d bow lers, and P illin g ’s perform ances at the w'icket w ere n ot allow ed to escape th eir notice. E n gaged at L o rd ’s in 1879, he served M .C .C . w ith great success to the club, as w ell as credit to him self, u ntil th e close o f th e season of 1883, w hen reasons o f im portan ce induced his return to th e service of the L anca­ shire C lub at O ld T rafford. D u rin g this period o f five years he took part in m ost of the principal fixtures played under the auspices of the M arylebone C lub. H is first appearance fo r th e P layers against th e G entlem en w as at L ord ’s, on Ju ly 7, 1879, and the sam e year w itnessed h is debut at Canterbury, w here he represented E n glan d against T hirteen o f K ent R ICH A RD P IL L IN G , S ir W illiam C urtis being asked to give a toast said, “ I w ill give you th e three R ’s— w riting, reading, and arith m etic.” T h e letter R has h ad im portan ce attached to it in m any w ays by w riters in different ages. L u ciliu s, th e R om an satirist, allu din g to the sound uttered b y a d og in snarling, n ot un­ lik e r -r -r -r -r -r -r -r -r -r , som etim es preceded b y a g, w rote tw o thousand years ago— Irrita ta canis quod JR B quam plurim a dicat. Shakespeare, too, refers to the sam e idea of R as the dog letter in ‘ •Rom eo and Ju liet,” w here he m akes th e nurse say to R om eo, “ A h, m ocker, th at’ s the d og s nam e, R is for the d o g .” T h e ornam ental part o f the letter has also a pecu liar significance o f its ow n to the m edical profession, as it is the sym bol of Jupiter, under w hose special protection all m edicines are placed. T o cricketers th e letter P w ill be as rich in asso­ ciations, and m em ories w ithal, of the m ost pleasing kind. A hundred years ago there w ere the five P ’s in the social w orld, as there are in cricket to-d ay. W illia m O xberry, w ho flourished exactly a century since, w as called “ T h e F ive P ’s ” because he w as Printer, P oet, P u b ­ lisher, P u blican, and P layer all in one. H istory does n ot cease to repeat itself, for there a re—if som e o f them are n ot still on active ser­ vice— the five P ’s, each and all of them in th eir particular depart­ m ent and in th eir ow n w ay w ithout a Peer— P ooley, P inder, P lum b, P h illips, and P illin g. W h a t a rem arkable com bin ation ! A n d w hat is still m ore singular, w hat a rem arkable succession of w ick et­ keepers. “ Y ea is the w orst w ell,” as M ercu tio prated, “ very w ell took i’ faith w isely, w isely.” I ’faith an extraordinary quintett, o f w hich, too, it is no exaggeration to say R ich ard P illing, the last o f them all, is one o f the m ost—if n ot the m ost— d istin g u ish d representative. P illin g has been so closely and actively identified w ith Lancashire cricket that it w ill be a surprise to som e, no doubt, to learn he is on ly a Lancastrian by adoption. B orn at B ed ford on July 5th, 1855, it w as som e tw en ty years later before he becam e associated at least in any active w ay w ith the cou n ty for w h ich he has du rin g th e last decade done such sterling service. H is first appearance in the Lancashire eleven w as, indeed, in 1877, and as everyone is aw are a probationary period of tw o years is necessary to qualify a cricketer by residence, his connection w ith L ancashire m ust have com m en ced at the latest b y the sum m er o f 2875. It w as about this tim e, if we m istake not, that he w as first engaged on the cou n ty cricket ground. T h e leading m em ­ bers o f the executive of the L an cash ire Club have show n o f late years shrew d ju dgm en t in the selection of the professionals they have introduced to O ld Trafford, and their selection o f P illin g, badly in w ant as they w ere o f a professional stum per, w as a singularly happy N E X T ISSUE , NOVEMBER 24i